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Dear Parents and Carers,
I would like to thank all parents and carers for your continued support of our school community during this challenging time. Over the past week the teachers have transitioned students into an online platform to access their learning. I am very proud to be able to say the teachers at St Paul's have made an extraordinary effort to provide online learning platforms for our students in a very short space of time. I would like to congratulate the teachers who are doing an amazing job meeting the needs of students in an online learning environment.
As a school community we are continuing to respond to the challenges of providing a remote learning model that supports all of our students and their families. Over the past week teachers have provided learning tasks for students via Seesaw or Google Classroom, and daily learning plans have been communicated to parents and students are required to check in every morning via the online platform they are using. Teachers have provided feedback on tasks completed by students and have made phone calls to families who are experiencing difficulty accessing the online platforms. Teachers will continue to work together to develop effective ways to cater for student needs via online learning.
Thank you to the parents who were able to provide feedback via the survey we created. We are collating the feedback and are using the feedback to improve the remote learning platform the students are using to access their leaning. On Friday I will send out an update of some new processes that we will be embedding into the online learning platforms for consistency of feedback and student engagement. We are currently working on how we will provide greater connection between students and teachers next term.
I understand that the task of home learning in an online learning environment can be daunting at times for all members of a family. I pay tribute to you busy parents, grandparents and carers, who amongst sorting out your own employment and working from home issues have made arrangements to facilitate your children’s learning. If you are experiencing any difficulty please contact the school Office at any time to speak to staff members who can support you.
I would like to acknowledge the kind words of encouragement from the parent community, for the beautiful morning tea some of our parents have provided for the staff. Your support and gratitude is much needed and very much appreciated during this time.
Last Sunday I and many parishioners across the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong were able to join with Bishop Brian as the Catholic Diocese of Wollongong streamed Mass live at 9am. Please find the link below to join the Bishop Brian each Sunday celebrate the Eucharist in a 'virtual' environment.
Wishing you every blessing,
Michelle Rodwell
Principal
On Monday 23 March the students listed below were congratulated over the microphone by Michelle Rodwell, our Principal as part of our process to present ACE, Principal and Mary MacKillop Awards to students due to the fact that we are not hosting any Assemblies in the foreseeable future.
The School Captains then presented these awards to the students in the classroom.
ACE Awards
Matthew Kadzielski, Sophia Di Martino, Angelo Phillip, Hunta Surian, Kaleeah Van De Voorde, Bailey Duff, Jaxon Moran, Keiran Strawbridge, Sophie Claridge, Owen Jones, Tamara Frendo, Ellie Micovski and Charlotte Van De Voorde
Principal’s Awards
Kate Bancroft, Madelynne Dowel, Ruby Hobbin, Leon Jones, Roman Melillo, Amellia O’Dwyer, Dante Rosete and Indianna Surian
Mary MacKillop Awards
Jane Carbonara
Coming to the End of Lent in 2020
This Lent is one for the record books. We no longer have hand shaking, prayer services, Sunday Masses, and now even being separated from our extended family and friends
Lent this year's may not be normal, but many have pointed out that the suffering, giving up and solitude are Lenten practices.
This Lent we find ourselves spending more time in isolation, but we need to look at this as a temporary thing we are doing for the sake of ourselves and others. It could be seen as a retreat with extra time to pray.
It is maybe an opportunity to listen to God’s voice. This year Lent has encouraged us to help others. We should be praying for all who are sick, as well as doctors, nurses, caregivers, and all those working hard to combat the disease. We should also remember those whose lives have been disrupted, especially anyone who has lost income from a loss of work during this difficult time.”
These past weeks and those to come offer challenges we've never had to face. Our routines are disrupted. We worry about ourselves and our loved ones.
We are encouraged not to be fearful 365 times in the Bible. Jesus reminds us “Be not afraid”.
This year Lent has become a time to think about how we live as a community, protecting each other from illness. We hope all Catholics meet these challenges, and maybe even bring about new and better ways of taking care of each other.
A Family Prayer for the Holidays
What is a NOVENA ?
A novena is a series of prayers that are said for nine straight days, usually as a prayer of petition. The nine days recall the nine days that the Apostles and the Virgin Mary spent in prayer between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost Sunday. It is also associated with Christian themes such as the nine months Jesus spent in the womb and the giving up of Jesus’ spirit at the ninth hour on the cross.
Attached is a Novena for A World in Need.
Julie Ferguson, Acting Religious Education Coordinator
Year 1
Bula! Bongiorno and Konichiwa from Year One! Thank you to all parents and students for diving head first into Remote learning with us! It sure is a big learning adventure we are all on! Parents, you are doing an amazing job supporting your child's learning whilst at the same time allowing for some fun along the way.
- Remote learning allows you to be creative in how your child presents their knowledge in every subject. Some children prefer to draw and label a picture response. Some children draw a picture and record their voice explaining what they have learnt. Some children make a small video clip to show their learning. Others prefer to write and upload a photo of their writing! These are all great ways to share learning.
- Reading and writing are lifelong skills that must be practised each day. Use the books you have on shelves, use the one month free of Epic to access readers! Just keep reading! It is ok to read the same book for a few days. Fluency is key! It needs to sound soft and smooth if children are to gain anything from their reading.
- Change it up! It may be crazy sock day in your house today! or crazy hair day! It can definitely be sport day every day!!!
- Try to get your child to practise sounding smooth when they share their ideas in audio or video! We always talk about how we are human beings not robots in Year One!
- Please ensure you are getting your child to check-in first with a morning greeting. This is how we mark the roll each day.
- Look for our 2 stars and a wish feed-back for some activities (one per day). These will help you going into subsequent tasks as you will know what it is we are looking for and building skill/knowledge in your child.
We have seen some wonderful science experiments, inventive new creatures, thoughtful answers on perseverance, beautiful Sacred Spaces and creative obstacle courses, just to name a few tasks you have submitted.,
We want to thank your family members for all the support they are giving you at home and for the wonderful way they have helped you to making your learning such an important part of each day.
Keep up the great work. The 3 of us have smiled, laughed and been touched by the responses you have given.
We have lots of exciting activities still to come and look forward to the incredible things you will produce in the future.
Keep up the great work.
Miss Tonini, Mrs Ferguson & Mrs Griffiths
This year our school was lucky enough to win a CEDoW Environmental Grant. The environmental committee have decided to upgrade our current bin system. We will be replacing the current bins with new bins and visual stickers to promote better waste management practises and behaviours in our school.
Our focus will be about promoting zero waste contamination by ensuring the right waste goes into the correct bin to avoid extra landfill. This project will include labelling our bins with stickers and using red and yellow national colours, a mixture of words and illustrations to clearly show what CAN and more importantly, what CAN’T go in each bin.
These stickers will be a visual reference point to show our students how to correctly use each bin, while also identifying individual bin and bin station locations.
Together we can respond to the need to work towards greater ecological justice on the Care of our Common Home.
Belinda Evans, Acting Middle Leader 2
In light of the recent global health situation and the presence of COVID-19 in Australia, the University of Wollongong has reviewed its delivery of Learning Labs for 2020.
To ensure the health and wellbeing of our participants, we have made the decision to cancel both the upcoming April and July Learning Labs programs. An email has been sent to April attendees, which includes instructions on refunds.
The next Learning Labs is scheduled to take place in the October holidays (campuses TBC). We will be in touch to advise whether this is going ahead over the next coming months.
Sarah Smith
Learning Labs Team
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students) | Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) | 19.1028
University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia
T +61 2 4221 5557
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